STDCM submits memo to Union Home Minister
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, January 07 2023:
The Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee of Manipur (STDCM) has submitted a memorandum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to add Meetei/Meitei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list under Article 342 (1) of the Indian Constitution.
The memorandum was submitted through the Chief Secretary.
In a statement signed by its president Dhiraj Yumnam, the STDCM said that the Meetei/Meitei living in Manipur since time immemorial with distinctive language, culture and tradition is one of the principal tribes of North East India.
Saying that the Census of India 1931 records the Meitei/Meetei as a tribe and the ethnic group should have been included in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) order, 1950 under Article 342 (1), the STDCM claimed that the Meetei/Meitei, however, was 'indiscriminately' left out from the ST list for reasons best known to the Government.
Further stating that the indigenous Meetei/Meitei people who are mostly confined in the tiny valley areas of Manipur with no Constitutional safeguard whatsoever now face serious existential threat in their own ancestral land, the committee elaborated that the Meetei/Meitei who constituted 59 per cent of the total population of Manipur in 1951 was reduced to 44 per cent in 2011 .
"It is anybody's guess how long the Meetei/Meitei will survive under the prevailing circumstances," it added.
Claiming that Meetei/Meitei fulfil all the criteria to be given ST status, the STDCM sought restoration of 'Constitutionally' recognised tribal status of the Meetei/Meitei.
The committee then sought intervention of the Union Home Minister to accord ST tag to the ethnic group.
As per the statement, the STDCM sought an appointment with Amit Shah during his stay in Manipur but it was denied possibly due to the tight schedule of the Union Home Minister.